Puerto Rico Department of Education

The Department of Education of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Departamento de Educación de Puerto Rico) is the executive department of the government of Puerto Rico responsible of managing state-operated schools in Puerto Rico as well as its education system and curricula. The department is the result of a United States state department of education and only one of two in the United States composed of a single school district. It is also the largest agency of the executive branch of Puerto Rico with an annual budget of more than $3.5 billion USD and over 72,000 staff—including more than 41,000 teachers. The department is also the third largest school district in the United States by enrollment with over 473,000 students and over 1,500 schools.

The department was formerly known as the Department of Public Instruction of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Departamento de Instrucción Pública de Puerto Rico). Under local law, all public schools are required to be licensed by the Puerto Rico Education Council ("Consejo de Educación"). The existence of a physical plant, presence of labs and library, sanitary conditions, as well as a satisfactory curriculum and properly trained teachers, are all factors considered in the process. The licensing is an important consumer rights issues for parents in both public and private schools. The licensing makes it more straightforward for parents when evaluating schools for their children relating to both quality and compliance. It also clarifies the remedies available to parents where their children's education falls below the expected standard. It was legislated to provide parents of students attending public schools the same level of protection as parents in private schools, by requiring the minimum standards of quality applicable to private school attendees.